‘Criminal Minds’ Season 12 Spoilers: Showrunner Erica Messer Justifies Hotch’s Exit, Says Damon Gupton Casting Was CBS’ Decision

“Criminal Minds” has been through a lot of changes last year. After Shemar Moore exited the series, CBS decided to fire Thomas Gibson after he was involved in an on-set altercation with a writer and producer of the show. Not only was Adam Rodriguez recruited to fill Moore’s void, but the crime procedural also suddenly added Damon Gupton as FBI Agent Stephen Walker to fill in Hotch’s shows.

It turns out that the decision to cast Gupton in Season 12 was made by CBS. “That was really a decision that the network made,” “Criminal Minds” showrunner Erica Messer told TVLine. “They are part of our ‘village’ — the leaders of our village, in fact — so I embraced it after hearing their reasoning.”

It wasn’t easy adding another character to the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). “For us, it’s always a challenge to bring somebody new into a group that has functioned together as long as they have. It’s like, ‘OK, what role needs to be filled?’” Messer explained. “So we brought him in with a specialty in the espionage world. The idea being that he had a skill set that could help us find Scratch made a lot of sense to us.”

Additionally, writing off Hotch was no easy feat, especially since Gibson couldn’t come back for a proper goodbye. However, Messer said that Hotch entering into the Witness Protection program in order to protect his son Jack seemed like the best way for him to leave the team. “He’s had so much tragedy since we’ve known him that he would not risk losing his life again or his son’s life for the job anymore,” Messer explained to TVGuide. “He’s the hero and he’s amazing, but at the same time, he would never let Jack be an orphan. That was how I came at it.”

Fortunately, Messer revealed that Reid’s (Matthew Gray Gubler) mother Diana (Jane Lynch) has an interesting storyline. Lynch will be seen in three episodes starting from the one airing on Feb. 1.

Furthermore, the back half of “Criminal Minds” Season 12 will have a huge Mr. Scratch-related storyline.

Moreover, CBS reported that Tatum O’Neal is set to guest-star in an upcoming episode. She will play Miranda White, a mother whose son is a serial killer. During an interview with Luke Alvez (Rodriguez), White reveals some disturbing facts about her son and how he blames her for not protecting him.

“Criminal Minds” Season 12 is currently on a short hiatus. The TV show returns on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.